Animated dancing doll



March 3, 1953 Filed Jan. 2, 1947 J. A. RUSS ANIMATED DANCING DOLL 4Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

JOHN/4R March 3, 1953 J. A. RUSS 2,629,966

ANIMATED DANCING DOLL Filed Jan. 2, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

BYML/w @a 54 muy March 3, 1953 J A. Russ ANIMATE-D DANG/ING ,DOLL

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 2, 1947 INVENTOR. LjH/V R055 9, mU/@M/ u, m,AN

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Flled Jan 2, 1947 Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEANIMATED DANCING DOLL John A. Russ, Verona, Pa.

Application January 2, 1947, Serial No. 719,783

Claims.

This invention relates generally to toys simulating the form of ananimate being and more particularly to an animated toy, the action ofwhich simulates dancing.

This invention provides one or more dolls arranged to be animated bymeans of a motor to produce an action simulating a dance. The reactionof the movement of the dolls on a platform combined with thecharacteristics of a motor actuating the dolls imparts a haphazardmotion thereto causing them to simulate a dance with lifelikecharacteristics. This haphazard action of the dolls causes them to dancecontinuously without repetition of the action that they perform.

The toy comprising this invention may be constructed in the form of asmall display toy or be arranged to operate large marionettes for windowdisplays and the like.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of a motoroperated animated toy having a. haphazard action simulating a dance.

Another object is the provision of a motor having variablecharacteristics which are afiected by the reaction of the object whichit operates to produce a haphazard action of the object.

Another object is the provision of an electromagnetic motor foroperating an animated object, the energization of the motor beingintermittent in a haphazard manner resulting from the unpredictableaction of the object.

Another object is the provision of a rotatably mounted electromagneticmotor arranged to be energized in a hlaphazard manner for imparting a.dancing motion to an ob-ject, the action of the object reacting to aidin rotating the motor and the object.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the followingdescription and claims.

A practical embodiment illustrating the principles of this invention isshown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation showing theanimated toy comprising this invention.

Fig. 2 is a View taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a, rear view of the electromagnetic motor comprising thisinvention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the stage with the ceiling raised.

Fig. 5 is a View in side elevation of an animated toy with a manuallycontrolled electromagnetic motor.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the toy may be referred toas a base which comprises the stage I made up of two identical panmembers 2 and 3. Each pan member has a rim which is preferably roundedat the front and is provided with a circumferentially depending fiange4. The lower pan member 2 forms the deck of the stage and the upper panmember 3 forms the ceiling of the stage and is supported from the lowerpan member 3 by the U-shaped partition wall 5 which has the inturnedflange 6 around its bottom edge which is fastened to the deck of thestage 2 in any suitable manner as by welding or riveting. The partition5 extends upwardly into the ceiling member 3 and is secured to itsdepending ange 4. The vertical ends of the partition 5 are also providedwith the inturned iianges I arranged to be secured to the back panel 3which also extends upwardly into the ceiling pan 3 being fastened to therear section of the flange 4 and extends downwardly over the rear iiange4 of the stage 2 and is secured thereto. Thus the whole of the stagecomprises the pan sections 2, 3, the partition 5 and the back 8 whichwhen assembled provide the enclosed chamber ID. The face II of thepartition may be advantageously rounded and decorated as an upstagecyclorama to simulate an orchestra or other scene depicting caricaturesrelated to the dancing iigure or iigures.

A bracket I2 is secured in any suitable manner such as by means of thescrews I3 to the back of the center of the partition 5 and is providedwith spaced rearwardly projecting upper and lower arms I4 and I5, thelatter of which is preferably raised above the stage deck. An upwardlyopen bearing socket I6 is mounted on the arm I5 in alignment with anopening I'I in the upper arm I4 for the purpose of receiving therotatably mounted support I8 which comprises a stem, the lower end 2i]of which is preferably spherically shaped and stepped in the bearingsocket I6 for the purpose of rotatably mounting the support. The upperend 2l of the support I8 is provided with the hole 22 for receiving thetransverse pin 23 on which the saddle 24 is pivotally supported.

Adjacent its lower end the support I8 is provided with a bracket 26 onwhich is mounted a pair of spaced electromagnetic coils 21 and 28preferably having soft iron cores and suitably insulated from oneanother. The upwardly extending cores of the electromagnets arepositioned to attract the armature 30 when energized. The armature 30 issufciently long to cover both pole faces of the electromagnets 21 and 28when brought in alignment therewith.

The armature 30 is supported on the lower end of the vertically disposedleg 3| of the bell crank beam 32, the horizontal leg 33 of which issecured as by welding or soldering, as indicated at 34, to the saddle 24above the pivot pin 23. The pivot pin opening 22 in the stern top 2| ismate rially larger' than that of the diameter of the pivot pin 23 so asto permit the bell crank beam 32 to have lateral as well as oscillatingmovement in a vertical plane relative to the support I8 as indicated bythe different positions of the leg 33 shown in dotted lines in Fig, 2.The leg 33 extends forwardly within the stage ceiling 3 and is providedwith a vertically disposed hole 35. A suspension wire 36 having a loop31 `formed in the upper end thereof is arranged to pass down through thehole 35, the loop 31 being sufficiently large to prevent the wire frombeing drawn any further. The lower end of the wire is arranged to besecured to the central portion of the bar 4B, the ends of which have thearms 4I and 42 of the dolls 43 and 44 pivoted thereon. The arms 4I and42 are rigid and are pivotally attached at their ends to the bodies ofthe dolls 43 and 44. Each doll is provided with a weighted head 45pivotally supported by any suitable means such as a Wire or spring tothe upper part of the body of the doll as indicated at 46. Each doll isprovided at its lower end with a pair of legs 41, each leg of vwhich isindependently pivoted to the doll as indicated at 48. Each leg isprovided with a foot 49 arranged to strike and react with the stageplatform 2.

Without the weight of the dolls, the substantially horizontally disposedleg 33 of the bell crank beam 32 is weighted sufi-ciently to overbalancethe leg 3l and its armature 30 so as to draw the latter in its extremeclockwise position as shown in Fig. 1. The vertically disposed leg `3Iis limited in its arcuate movement owing to -thefact that it may strikethe support I8 in its other extreme position as illustrated in dottedlines in Fig. l.

A bracket 50 is secured to the support I8 below the arm I4. This brackethas a laterally extending section I and an outwardly extending section52 which israrranged to carry the stationary contact support 53 at itsouter end insulated therefrom. The top of the contact support isprovidedwith the contact member 54. A flexible contact finger 55 has oneofits ends bent downwardly, as indicated at 56, Vand is provided withanopening to receive the fasteningmeans 51 for securing the contactfinger to the laterally eX- tending section 5I. The contact lingerextends over the bracket 50 and isiprovided with the contact member 58at its free end which is arranged to engage and close an electriccircuit with the stationary contact member 54.

A substantially vertically disposed control lever `6() is pivotallysupported to the bracket 50 by means of the pivot pin 6I which extendsthrough the bracket and the control lever and is provided with a cap 62secured to the outer` end of the pin 6I and arranged to hold the helicalspring 63 in compression between the cap 62 and the control arm 60 forthe purpose of providing a frictional load to retard the movement of thecontrol lever 6U.

The upper end of the control lever 6U is cut at an angle to provide thecam 64 arranged to engage the underface of the contact spring 55 andraise it to open the contacts when the control lever is moved in acounterclockwise direction as viewed inFig. 11. The intermediate portionof the lever 60 is twisted to dispose its lower end at 'ninety degreestothe upper portion. Thelower end of the control lever has the armsecured thereto which extends rearwardly passing on one side of thesupport I8 and is provided with a U- shaped hook 66 which encircles thevertically disposed leg 3| just abcve the position where the armature 3Uis attached thereto and is opened suiiiciently to permit lost motiontherebetween.

When the motor is at rest or de-energized the horizontal leg 33 of thebell crank beam 32 is sufficiently weighted to move the verticallydisposed leg 3| to its rearmost position as shown in Fig. 1 causing theleg 3l to engage the hook 66 and swing the control lever 66 so as topermit the contact 58 of the finger 55 to engage the contact 54 therebyclosing an electrical circuit to energize the electromagnetic coils 21and 28. The electrical circuit may be energized from a suitable sourceof electricity such as a battery or the low voltage secondary of atransformer, either source of which may be connected to the eyelets 61and 68. The current travels from the eyelet 61 through the lead 10, thecoils 21 and 28 which are connected in series, the flexible lead 1I, thestationary contact support 53, the contact 54 to the contact 58 of theiinger 55, the bracket 5II, the support I8 and thence through theiiexible lead 12 to the return circuit eyelet 68.

Upon energizing the coils 21 and 28, the armature 30 is magneticallyattracted thereto causing the vertically disposed leg 3I to move in acounterclockwise direction. Before the armature reaches the positionabove the cores of the electromagnets the leg 3l engages one of theother sides of the hook 66 and rocks control lever 60 in acounterclockwise direction causing the cam 64 to raise the contactfinger 55 and Ywithdraw the contact 58 from engagement with the contact54 to open and de-energize the circuit of the electromagnets 21 and 28.However the m0- mentum of the magnetic pulling force on the armature 30causes the leg 3| t0 travel approximately the full distance of itstravel thereby raising the outer end of the horizontal leg 33 andlifting the dolls 43 and 44 from the deck of the stage 2. Owing to thefact that the circuit energizing the electromagnet is almost immediatelyinterrupted when motion is imparted to the bell crank beam 32, the dolls43 and 44 are raised with apjerking motion causing the bodies thereof topivot relative to the arms 4I and 42 andthe legs 41 to swing to otherpositions. As the horizontal bell crank leg 33 descends rthe feet 49 ofthe dolls engage the deck of the stage in 'another position causing areaction relieving the bell crank beam of its load in such a mannerrasto produce a different reaction permitting vthe bell crank beam torepeatedly and rapidly oscillate in a haphazard manner. This action notonly permits the dolls 43 and 44 to dance ina h-aphazard manner but alsopermits themito rotate about the axis of the suspension wire 36 andcause the horizontal leg 33 of the bell crank beam to swing in eitherdirection relative to the support I8 due to the clearance between thepin 23 in the hole 22. This permissible relative lateral movement of thebell crank beam allows the momentum of the dolls to swing'the beam andthe momentum carries the beam beyond the play of the pivot pin 23 whichresults in swinglng the whole of the support I8 about its axis on thebearing I6. This action is also indeterminate and the dolls stay in oneposition for a while or move back and forth acrossthe stage as theycontinue to dance and turn about the axis of the suspension Wire 36. Thecombined function of these several structures thus produce an animatedaction of the dolls simulating a dance wherein they almost never repeatthe same dance, which is haphazard in nature, and their action carriesthem from one side of the stage to the other and causes them to rotate.At times the reaction of the dolls is insuicient to close the contactswhich add to the indeterminate action of the dolls. Thus the dance thatthe dolls perform provides a very amusing and unusual dance which isextremely fascinating to watch.

The structure of Figs. 1 to 4 is automatic owing to the fact that theaction of the electromagnetic motor together wih the reaction ofthedolls on the deck of the stage determines the frequency and durationthat the electric circuit is interrupted. However in the structure ofFig. 5 the circuit is interrupted by a manually operated means.

Referring to Fig. 5 the support I8 has the stationary hook member 13secured thereto. This hook encircles the vertical leg 3l of the bellcrank beam 32 and is set to limit the oscillatory motion of the beam.The suspension wire 36 is shown supporting a single doll 14 in the formof a ringmaster, the arms 15 of which are preferably made of flexiblematerial such as springs and the jointed legs 1G are pivotally connectedto the triangular body 11. The feet of the doll are arranged to reactwith the stage in the same manner as the dolls previously described. Theleft hand of the ringmaster doll is arranged to hold the whip 18 and -acord is suspended from the right hand to a creature such as the mouse19. The weight of the whip 18 and the mouse 19 aid in balancing the dolland to increase the vibratory action of the arms 15 of the doll toproduce the animated effect of the ringmaster putting his trained animalthrough its tricks.

The electromagnetic coils 21 and 28 are connected in series and aresupplied with current from a suitable source of electric supply such asa battery or transformer which current flows through the wire 80, thecoil 21, the coil 28, the wire 8l to the several switch contacts 82disposed on the inner surface of the drum 83 made of suitable insulatingmateri-al. The drum 83 is mounted on the metal disk 84 which has anoutwardly projecting portion 85 the sides of which are turned up to forma tubular handle for the purpose of receiving the wires and holding thedrum. The disk 84 is provided with a centrally disposed bearing forrotatably receiving the shaft 86 which is provided with the crank handle81. The shaft is disposed axially of the bore of the drum and isprovided with the brush member 88 arranged to intermittently engage thecontacts 82 for the purpose of making and breaking the circuit throughthe solenoids 21 and 28. The current travels from the contacts 82through the brush 88, the shaft 86, the disk 84 to the wire 89 which issoldered thereto and thence to the return circuit side of the supplycurrent. The rotary switch drum is closed at its other end by the disk80 which is preferably made of insulating material and provided with thecentral bearing 9| for receiving the end of the shaft 86. The disk 90may be formed integral with the drum or attached thereto by any suitablemeans.

When the crank 81 is rotated, the brush 88 engages the contacts 82 inturn thereby intermittently energizing the electromagnets causing thedoll 14 to jig. The speed of rotation of the switch determines thefrequency of the animated actions of the doll and it may be made torespond somewhat in accordance to the manner in which the operatorrotates the switch. However the doll is apt to respond entirelydifferent to that which is expected owing to the reaction of its feet onthe stage and the effect of the weighted articles such as the whip 18and the mouse 19.

I claim:

1. An animated doll display comprising a base having a horizontallydisposed platform, a beam, pivot means carried by said base to pivotallysupport the beam intermediate of its ends to have limited verticalmovement relative to the platform, an armature secured adjacent one endof the beam, an electromagnet, means to mount said electromagnet on thebase to produce a magnetic coupling with and to attract the armature andswing the beam in a vertical plane when energized, make and break meansto interrupt the electrical energization of the electromagnet, and dollmeans loosely suspended from the other end of the beam and overlying theplatform, said doll means substantially balancing the beam and causingan unbalance thereof when the doll means forcibly engages the platformto provide varied vertical movement of the beam and produce a haphazarddance of the doll means.

2. An animated doll display comprising a base having a horizontallydisposed platform, a beam, pivot means carried by said base to pivotallysupport the beam intermediate of its ends to have limited vertical andlateral movement relative to the platform, an armature secured adjacentone end of the beam, an electromagnet, means to mount said electromagneton the base to produce a magnetic coupling with and to attract thearmature and swing the beam in a vertical plane when energized, make andbreak means actuated by the movement of the beam before traveling itsfull stroke to interrupt the electrical energization of theelectromagnet, a lost motion connection between the beam and the contactmeans to produce a time delay period in the operation of the contactmeans for the deenergization of the electromagnet and assure goodmovement of the beam, means to hold the make and break means againstmovement when the beam is traversing the time delay period, and dollmeans loosely suspended from the other end of the beam and overlying theplatform, said doll means substantially balancing the beam and causingan unbalance thereof when the doll means forcibly engages the platformto provide varied vertical movement of the beam and produce a haphazarddance of the doll means.

3. An animated doll display comprising a base having a horizontallydisposed platform, a support carried by the base and rotatably mountedrelative to the platform, a beam, pivot means attached to said beamintermediate of its ends and carried by said support to pivotally mountsaid beam with limited vertical movement relative to said support, anarmature secured adjacent one end of the beam, an electromagnet, meansto mount said electromagnet on said support and position it to attractthe armature and swing the beam in a vertical plane when energized, makeand break means to interrupt the electrical energization of theelectromagnet, and doll means with movable limbs loosely suspended fromthe other end of the beam and overlying the platform, said doll meanssubstantially balancing the beam and causing an unbalance thereof whenthe limbs of the doll means forcibly engages the platform to providevaried vertical movement of the beam and varied horizontal movement 01'theV supporttorproduce ahaphazarddance of the fdoll means.

44. An'animateddolldisplay comprising a base having a-herizontallydisposed platform, a sup- ,port carried by the base and rotatablymounted relative to the platform, abeam, pivot means attached to saidbeam intermediate of its ends and .carriedby said support to pivotallymount said beam with limitedvertical and, horizontal movement relativeto said support, an armature -se- .cured adjacent one end of the beam,an electromagnet,imeans .to mount saidfelectromagnet on said supportandposition it to attract the armature and. swing the-beam in a verticalplane when energized, make and break means actuated by the movement ofthe beam before traveling its full stroke to interrupt the electricalenergization ofthe electromagnet, a'lost motion connectionbetweenthefbeam and the contact means to pro- :duee altime delay;periodinthe operation ofthe contact means for the de-eneigization of theelectromagnet and assuregood movement of the beam,zmeansto hold the makeand break means against movement when the beam is traversing .the timedelay period, and doll means with movable limbs. loosely suspended fromthe other end of the beam and overlying the platform, said doll meanssubstantially .balancing the beam and causing an unbalanee thereof whenthe limbs of .the doll l means forcibly engages the platform to .providevaried vertical movement of the beam and varied horizontal movement ofthe support to lproduce. a haphazard dance of the doll means.

.5. An animated doll display comprising a base having ahorizontallydsposed platform, a support carried by the base androtatably mounted `relative to the platform, a bell crank beam having `avertical and horizontal leg, pivot means attached to said beamintermediate of its ends and carried by said support to pivotally mountsaid beam with :limited vertical and lateral movementrelative tosaidsupport,an armatureattachedlto the vertical leg of the beam, anelectromagnet, means to mount said electromagnet on said support andpositioned to attract the armature .and swing the horizontal leg of thebeam in a vertical plane when energized, make and break .meanstointerrupt the electrical energization of the electromag'net, and dollmeans rotatably and .loosely suspended from the horizontal leg of thebeam and overlying the platform, said doll means with movable limbssubstantially balancing the beam vand causing an unbalance thereof whenthe movable limbs of the doll means forcibly engages the platform toprovide varied vertical and `lateral `movementof the beam and variedhorilzontalmovement of the `support to produce a haphazard danceof the.doll means.

JOHN A. iRUSS.

.REFEREN CES .CITED The following references are of record in the ile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 312,178 Bacon .Feb. 10,1885862,625 Field Aug, 6, 1907 955,407 .Jackson Apr. 19, 1910 1,020,030Elliott Mar. 12, 1912 1,226,835 Wilder May 22, 1917 1,280,307 Rust Oct.1, 1918 1,726,294 Greene Aug. 27, 1929 1,913,926 High June 13, 19332,467,040 King Apr. l2, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number .Country Date117,942 Austria June.l0,.1949

